The seemingly unchecked spread of multiple antibiotic resistance in clinically relevant pathogenic microbes is alarming. Furthermore, a significant environmental reservoir of antibiotic resistance determinants, termed the antibiotic resistome, has been discovered (Riesenfeld et al. (2004) Environmental Microbiology 6:981; D′Costa et al. (2006) Science 311:374). The primary microbial antibiotic resistance mechanisms include efflux pumps, target gene-product modifications, and enzymatic inactivation of the antibiotic compound (Walsh (2000) Nature 406:775; Alekshun and Levy (2007) Cell 128:1037). Many of the mechanisms are common to several species of pathogens and spread by lateral gene transfer (Davies (1994) Science 264:375). While many bacteria growing in extreme environments (Davies (1994) Science 264:375) and capable of degrading toxic substrates (McAllister et al. (1996) Biodegradation 7:1) have been previously reported, only a few organisms have been shown to subsist on a limited number of antibiotic substrates (Kameda et al. (1961) Nature 191:1122; Johnsen (1977) Archives of Microbiology 115:271; Abdelm et al. (1961) Nature 189:775).